The document discusses the influence of Charles Dickens on Fyodor Dostoevsky. It notes that Dostoevsky greatly admired Dickens' works, especially his portrayal of humble characters. Both writers focused on similar themes like crime and punishment and featured large casts of characters. They also used their respective cities of London and St. Petersburg as main characters in their novels, recognizing the symbolic possibilities of urban settings. The document provides examples from Crime and Punishment and Oliver Twist to illustrate their depictions of the cities.

1. Dickens and Dostoevskij

2. London and Sankt Petersburg

3. Dickens’s influence on Dostoevskij
In his Diary of a Writer Dostoevskij wrote:
 We understand Dickens in Russia, I am
convinced, almost as well as the English; maybe even
we love him no less than his own countrymen; and
yet how typical, distinctive, and national Dickens is.
 Dostoevskij understood the powerful artistic vision
of Dickens; admiring especially Dickens's humbler
characters. As Dickens decided to be their voice in
Great Britain, so Dostoevskij decided to be their
voice in Russia.

4. common characteristics
 humble characters
 sophisticated plots
 a great numbers of characters
 the "wisdom of the heart“ , which involves
compassion for the insulted and injured
 The attitude both writers express towards the social
issues of crime and punishment
 Their hometowns, London and Sankt Petersburg, are
the main characters of their novels

5. Dostoevskij and Sankt Petersburg
 Dostoevskij like Balzac, Baudelaire, Dickens, and
Gogol - was among the first to recognize the
symbolic possibilities of city life and imagery drawn
from the city
 The crowded streets and squares, the shabby houses
and taverns, the noise and stench, all are
imaginatively transformed into a rich store of
metaphors for states of mind

6. “... in St. Petersburg, the most abstract and
intentional city on the entire globe…”

7. From Chapter 5 Crime and Punishment
 In this way he walked right
across Vassilevskij
Ostrov, came out on to the
Lesser Neva, crossed the
bridge and turned towards
the islands. The greenness
and freshness were at first
restful to his weary eyes
after the dust of the town
and the huge houses that
hemmed him in and
weighed upon him. Here
there were no taverns, no
stifling closeness, no
stench.

8. Dickens’s London
 London is as much a character in Charles Dickens's
novels. To Dickens, London was a living, breathing
entity for which he had an enduring fascination. He
loved its diversity yet hated its inequalities, and his
descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells of the
city are among the most evocative passages in
English literature.

9. “inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided
in purpose between being visible and invisible”

10. From Chapter 8 Oliver Twist
The street was very narrow
and muddy, and the air
was impregnated with
filthy odours. There were
a good many small
shops; but the only stock
in trade appeared to be
heaps of children, who,
even at that time of
night, were crawling in
and out at the doors, or
screaming from inside.